Investment Firm BlackRock’s Partnership With Coinbase Is A Win For Crypto Adoption
by Rey Simmons 
BlackRock, the world’s largest investment management firm, has recently announced its partnership with Coinbase Prime, the full-service platform designed to help institutional investors with crypto activities. The partnership will combine Coinbase Prime’s services with BlackRock’s Aladdin, an end-to-end investment management platform for its institutional investors. BlackRock’s clients will now be able to trade, manage, and report on crypto in-house.
The partnership is a major shift for BlackRock, whose chairman Larry Fink has previously shamed bitcoin as an “index of money laundering.” However, in the last few years, BlackRock has slowly delved into web3, introducing bitcoin futures into some products, investing in USD Coin’s cash reverse, and recently Chief Investment Officer Rick Reider stated that he believes cryptos like bitcoin are “durable assets” that will see higher prices in a few years.
The Coinbase-BlackRock partnership will allow clients to manage their bitcoin exposures directly in their existing portfolio management. This marks a significant milestone for Coinbase and the institutional crypto adoption, providing greater access and transparency to the crypto market. Coinbase stock jumped as high as 44% in intraday trading, adding nearly $2 billion to the company’s market cap.
The Coinbase-BlackRock partnership represents an opportunity for both firms. For BlackRock, its institutional clients will now have direct access to crypto activities via Prime. For Coinbase, the partnership is a sign of institutional acceptance, and a reminder of its status as a crypto giant.
Overall, the move is a breath of fresh air for investors who see the deal reviving crypto after a tough year. The partnership is a sign of traditional Wall Street firms preparing to expand deeper into crypto and the underlying technologies, which may boost prices, stability, and maturation of the asset as a serious investment.
